Uganda: Left to their own devices: The continued suffering of victims of the conflict in Northern Uganda and the need for reparations

Contents

1. introduction 5

2. The government'...

2.1 Reparations as complementary to truth and justice 8

3. The continued suffering of victims and survivors 10

3.1 "I am still su...

3.2 Reintegration of child soldiers and former abductees 13

3.2.1 The experien...

3.2.2 Lack of counselling and psycho-social support 13

3.2.3 Educational ...

3.2.4 Vocational s...

3.3 Restitution fo...

3.3.1 Restitution/compensation for destroyed land and property 15

3.3.2 Compensation for death and injury 16

3.4 General medical needs 16

3.5 The suffering of parents of abducted persons 17

3.6 The case of the disappeared 18

3.7 Re-burials and memorials 19

3.8 Inability to pursue reparation claims before courts 19

3.9 Apology 20

4. Government response to reparations needs 21

4.1 Peace, Recover...

4.2 Amnesty Intern...

4.2.1 The Agreement and Annex on Accountability 22

4.2.2 The Agreemen...

4.3 The DDR program under the PRDP 24

5. The role of non-governmental organizations in northern Uganda 25

6. The role of the...

7. Conclusion 27

8. Recommendations 28

1. introduction

The conflict in northern Uganda between Government of Uganda's (GoU) armed forces and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) lasted nearly two decades from 1986. Since 2006, with the cessation of hostilities between the parties following a peace process, it has abated and an uneasy calm has returned to the region.1

During the conflict widespread human rights abuses were committed by the LRA against the civilian population. Amnesty International documented the LRA's abduction of thousands of children and adults, unlawful killing of thousands of civilians, the rape of thousands of women and beatings of men, women and children. The organization also documented human rights violations committed by the government's Uganda Peoples' Defence Forces (UPDF). These included unlawful killings, rape and beatings of civilians. There was general impunity for soldiers who committed human rights violations against civilians. Also documented as one of the most enduring effects of the conflict on civilians was, and remains, the massive displacement of about 1.8 million people from their homes into internally displaced persons' (IDPs) camps 2 in which living conditions were often dire for IDPs in relation to shelter, hygiene, health and nutrition.

Many years on, victims and survivors of human rights violations still bear the scars of these violations. Little has been done to ensure that victims and survivors have access to effective reparations which address their continued suffering and help them to rebuild their lives. The Agreement on Accountability and Reconciliation signed between the LRA and the government of Uganda (GoU) in June 2007, and an Annexure signed in February 2008 (the Annex), make provision for reparations for victims and survivors of human rights violations. Under the Annex, the government will establish mechanisms to provide reparations.3 Yet this commitment is marked by significant flaws and falls short of ensuring prompt and effective reparations for victims.4 Furthermore, this commitment remains a pipedream and has to date not been backed by any concrete action plan to address the suffering of victims and survivors through a reparations program.

An Amnesty International delegation visited the northern Uganda districts of Gulu, Amuru, Kitgum, Pader and Lira in August 2008 and interviewed hundreds of victims of human rights violations suffered during the conflict. Amnesty International delegates also met with government officials and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) including victims' groups. Victims expressed the urgent need for the government to put in place an action plan, in consultation with them, to provide reparations, which addresses their current suffering.

2. The government's obligation to provide full and effective reparations

All victims of crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture, extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances and other human rights violations have a right to full and effective reparations.5 Reparations programs should focus on addressing the suffering of the victims and taking measures to help them rebuild their lives. There are a broad range of recognized measures which can be taken to achieve this, which fall under five categories: restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition.6

Restitution involves measures aimed at restoring the victim to the original situation before the crime occurred, including, as appropriate:

  • restoration of liberty;
  • enjoyment of human rights, identity, family life and citizenship;
  • return to one's place of residence;
  • restoration of employment and return of property.

Compensation involves monetary awards for economically assessable damage, such as:

  • physical or mental harm;
  • lost opportunities, including employment, education and social benefits;
  • material damages and loss of earnings, including loss of earning potential;
  • moral damage;
  • costs required for legal or expert assistance, medicine and medical services and psychological and social services.

Rehabilitation includes medical and psychological care, as well as legal and social services.

Satisfaction includes measures such as:

  • verification of the facts and full and public disclosure of the truth;
  • the search for the whereabouts of the disappeared, for the identities of the children abducted, and for the bodies of those killed, and for assistance in the recovery, identification and reburial of the bodies in accordance with the expressed or presumed wish of the victims, or the cultural practices of the families and communities;
  • an official declaration or a judicial decision restoring the dignity, the reputation and the rights of the victim and of persons closely connected with the victim;
  • public apology, including acknowledgement of the facts and acceptance of responsibility;
  • judicial and administrative sanctions against persons liable for the violations;
  • commemorations and tributes to the victims.

Guarantees of non-repetition involve measures aimed at ensuring that victims are not subject to other crimes or that the crimes are not committed again. Such measures include:

  • Reforming the army and the police;
  • ensuring that all civilian and military proceedings abide by international standards of due process, fairness and impartiality;
  • strengthening the independence of the judiciary;
  • educating different sectors of society in human rights and international humanitarian law education;
  • promoting conflict resolution;
  • reviewing and reforming laws which contribute to or allow crimes under international law.

Under international law "reparation must, as far as possible, wipe out all the consequences of the illegal act and re-establish the situation which would, in all probability, have existed if that act had not been committed."7 In situations where horrific crimes are committed on a wide-scale as with the conflict in northern Uganda, it will often be impossible to undo the consequences of crimes. However, the testimonies of victims gathered by Amnesty International, some of which are discussed in subsequent sections of this report, reveal there are many measures that can be taken to help address victims' suffering.

When faced with the question of reparation -- in particular compensation - for victims, the response of government officials has been varied. Some have stated that "it would be difficult to compensate victims because they [victims] are many and the crimes [committed during the conflict] were diverse".8 Regarding destroyed property, other government officials have suggested that "the burden of compensation" must be shared between the LRA and the government.9

International human rights law is clear that the obligation to provide reparation to victims rests primarily with the state. The government of Uganda (GoU) is therefore responsible for establishing effective mechanisms and programs to provide reparations. Such programs should cover all violations committed during the conflict, including violations by the UPDF and the LRA. The government is of course directly responsible for providing reparations for crimes committed by its forces. In addition, the programs should be extended to victims of crimes by the LRA on the basis that the government has in the last two decades failed to protect the people in northern Uganda from these violations. Furthermore, the government has also established barriers to victims claiming reparations against the LRA including adopting an amnesty law, which has served as a direct barrier to victims seeking justice and reparations before national courts. Victims of all violations should be able to seek reparations directly against the government or perpetrators before national courts.

Indeed, according to the Agreement on Accountability and Reconciliation and the Annex signed between the GoU and the LRA, the government has committed itself to putting in place mechanisms to provide reparations.10 Civil society groups, international agencies and donors should also play a role in developing and implementing reparation programs. Such programs should be established in consultation with victims to ensure that initiatives meet victims' needs.

Amnesty International believes that the government should not wait for the conclusion or progress of the peace process in order to develop a reparations program or an action plan on reparations. As the subsequent sections of this report show, different categories of victims and survivors of the war still bear the brunt of human rights violations and immediate measures are required to address their suffering.

2.1 Reparations as complementary to truth and justice

A comprehensive action plan to deal with the conflict in northern Uganda should consist of mutually reinforcing principles of truth, justice and reparation, each of which plays a distinct but complementary role. In this sense, reparation programs should be complementary to truth and justice mechanisms.

Under the Agreement on Accountability and Reconciliation signed between the GoU and LRA, different mechanisms and measures have been proposed to ensure these principles. Amnesty International has analyzed the proposed framework and concluded that it falls short of a comprehensive plan to ensure that the truth is told, justice is done, and that reparation is provided for all the victims of the conflict.11

Justice mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court (ICC), the national criminal justice system operating in compliance with international law; and traditional justice mechanisms (established in compliance with human rights standards and independent of but supplementary to the criminal justice system) are an important form of reparations in so far as they ensure accountability for the crimes committed during the conflict, and aim to ensure that victims will not be subject to future crimes.12 The formation of a body of inquiry which is expected to "inquire into the conflict and promote truth-telling" is proposed under the Accountability and Reconciliation Agreement. Such a body, if established effectively, may be a form of reparation.13 By officially acknowledging that there was a pattern of human rights violations in the past, and taking measures to investigate the facts, disclose the truth and expose misinformation, a truth telling process provides victims and their families with an initial form of satisfaction.

Amnesty International refers the government to its earlier recommendations on measures that should be put in place to ensure a comprehensive action plan for truth, justice and reparations so as to ensure redress for crimes committed during the conflict.14

3. The continued suffering of victims and survivors

3.1 "I am still suffering as a result of the sexual violence that I was subjected to"15

The testimonies of victims of rape and other forms of sexual violence revealed that most of them still suffer the effects of severe physical injury and psychological trauma. In addition, they face widespread discrimination and stigma from the community. Many of the women and girls who suffered sexual violence and interviewed by Amnesty International reported that they were still highly traumatized and were in need of urgent medical, surgical and psychological responses.

18 year old Arach Nighty16from Pader district narrated her ordeal in the hands of LRA captors and expressed relief that she remains alive while many of those she was abducted with were killed. Of the impact of her experience she explained:

"...Even though I am back to the community and my life is normal, I still hallucinate and dream a lot about what happened. I dream about my forced marriage and the people I was made to kill and others who were killed during our time with the LRA...Because of my experience, I sometimes find myself shouting uncontrollably..."

All the five districts of northern Uganda -- Amuru, Gulu, Kitgum, Pader and Lira - visited by Amnesty International have very few health centres and hospitals which are all ill-equipped thus exacerbating the challenge of providing these women with urgent psychological, medical and surgical responses. The majority of the formerly abducted female victims interviewed narrated having undergone weeks' long rehabilitation programs, including counselling immediately upon their return to the community, in rehabilitation centres run by NGOs,17 for which they were appreciative and "had gained much".18 However, most of them expressed the need for some kind of provision for "ongoing and continuous" counselling programs tailored to their individual problems.19 Some have received counselling from their parents and relatives. Others have neither had access to the rehabilitation programs run by NGOs nor had the opportunity to talk about their experience with their parents and relatives -- from whom some of them face discrimination.20 24-year old Acul Doreen of Kitgum district told Amnesty International that:

"...I was abducted and forcefully married off to an LRA soldier with whom I stayed with, against my will, for five years. During this period, I underwent many abuses...Upon returning to the community, I was at the UPDF child support unit for some days and then taken to the reception centre from where I was helped to trace my home within a matter of days...The time spent at the reception centre was very short -- about three days. I did not receive any counselling nor was I involved in the life skills programs which I have heard that some other abductees under went...Because of my psychological problems which relate to the painful memories of my experience, I know that attending regular counselling programs would help me to move on. I know because my friend attended a one-week counselling program and appreciates its benefits...It would have helped if the community members, in particular older women, were more receptive to taking on counselling as a role especially for some of us who are orphans..."21

Many victims and survivors experienced multiple human rights abuses and as a consequence are faced with different challenges. 17- year old Pilaya Vicky from Gulu district narrated to Amnesty International how she was abducted by the LRA when she was only 9 years old, made to carry heavy luggage and corpses some times for long distances (often without food to eat), forced to kill a fellow young female abductee and eventually married off to a rebel commander. She also explained how her experience in captivity affects her today:

"...The memory of my experience has left a big mental scar in me. From time to time all this come back and haunt me. I was only thirteen years old when I gave birth to the rebel commander's child. I was not ready to carry the pregnancy and remember very well how painful the experience was...Upon delivery, I bled a lot and feared that I would die as I just gave birth by the roadside. One of the biggest effects of my experience is that I feel pain as a result of the experience...I feel constant pain around my waist and feel that this is as a result of the difficult childbirth that I had and a result of repeated beatings by the rebel commander with sticks around my waist...I also suffer chest pains..."22

Most victims of sexual violence suffered during the conflict still endure the physical effects of their experiences. Many of the women and girls abducted by the LRA were subjected to sexual violence, sexual slavery and torture for which they still complain of pains and medical infections as a result of their experiences. This is in addition to psychological difficulties already highlighted in this section. In previous research, Amnesty International also recorded testimonies of women and girls who suffered sexual violence, including rape, in the hands of government soldiers.23 Some of the victims had contracted sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS as a result of the sexual violence.24 The plight of these women and girls is worsened by the current dearth of health facilities in the region and as a consequence, their limited ability to access medical treatment.

Amnesty International delegates were also told of the widespread stigma that female victims of sexual violence face. Oyela Grace of Amuru district explained that stigma remains prevalent from the general community and people they live with:

"I have a step-mother whose child was also abducted and killed in LRA captivity. Now she vents out her anger on me and says she wishes I was killed too because I am a ghost haunting her...Although it is not true, my friends tell me that because of the period I spent in captivity my brain does not work or that I don't think clearly. Even my father now tells this to my mother although I am his child...Since God has brought me back home and given me lessons, let me concentrate, maybe I'll do better in future. This is the only hope I have..."25